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Introduction

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Of all internal-combustion engines, the diesel engine is the most efficient—that is, it can extract the greatest amount of mechanical energy from a given amount of fuel. It achieves this high level of performance by compressing air to high pressures before injecting very small droplets of fuel into the combustion chamber. The high temperatures created when air is highly compressed in a diesel engine cause the fuel to burn without the spark plug required in a gasoline engine. Very large diesel engines, which are used for stationary power production and to power boats and ships, can be twice as efficient as a conventional automobile gasoline engine. However, the high pressures created inside diesel engines make heavy engines with thick cylinder walls necessary. High weight and the need for careful maintenance of the fuel-injection system have made the diesel engine most useful for trucks, buses, small and medium-size ships and tugs, movable industrial-power systems, and diesel-electric railroad locomotives. Its weight makes the diesel engine unsuitable for use in aircraft, and it has found only limited acceptance in passenger automobiles.

How the Diesel Engine Works

Diesel engines use a conventional cylinder and piston arrangement. The cylinders may be arranged vertically in line, in two banks forming a V, or with the cylinders radiating from the center like spokes in a wheel. (See also Internal-Combustion Engine; Automobile, “Power Plant.”)

In the widely used four-stroke engine, the piston draws air into the cylinder during the first stroke. During the second stroke the air is compressed in the cylinder to about one fifteenth of its original volume. Engineers call this a 15:1, or 15 to 1, compression ratio. At the end of compression the air pressure is more than 40 times atmospheric pressure, and the air temperature exceeds 1,000° F (540° C). At this point a predetermined amount of finely atomized fuel, or fuel in the form of very small droplets, is injected into the cylinder through the fuel pump. The very high air temperature in the cylinder causes the fuel to burn very rapidly without the use of a spark plug. The high-temperature, combusted gas pushes the piston to the bottom of the cylinder, delivering power to the crankshaft during the third stroke. During the fourth stroke, the low-pressure, combusted gases are pushed through the exhaust port. Thus only one stroke in four delivers power.

In two-stroke engines, which are generally smaller than four-stroke diesel engines, air is admitted just before compression begins, and the burned gases are exhausted near the end of the power stroke. The two-stroke engine therefore delivers power once every second stroke. A two-stroke engine is generally less efficient than a four-stroke engine but can develop greater power for a given engine size and speed. Two-stroke engines are used where small one- or two-cylinder engines are needed and where the intermittent action of a four-stroke engine would require too large a flywheel to keep the engine running at nearly constant speed.

The heart of the diesel engine is its fuel-injection system. Each cylinder has a separate fuel pump that can develop pressures in excess of a thousand pounds per square inch (70 kilograms per square centimeter) to force a measured amount of oil through very small nozzle holes into the cylinder. The high pressures coupled with the small holes cause the atomization of the fuel. The amount of fuel injected at every stroke must be varied to meet the power requirements imposed on the engine. Various types of oils can be used for diesel engines. The most commonly used oil, usually called diesel fuel, is similar to that used in home heating systems.

The high pressures developed during compression demand large starting motors for automotive diesels. Large, nonautomotive diesel engines are usually started with a supply of compressed air from an auxiliary compressor and air storage tank. For a cold small diesel engine, an in-cylinder heat source called a glow plug is required during start-up to assist the initial combustion. During very cold weather longer warm-up periods are needed, and care must also be taken that the fuel is able to flow readily from the tank to the engine. Diesel engines are therefore not recommended for automotive use in very cold climates unless the fuel can be preheated. The performance of large diesel engines can be improved by the addition of a supercharger, which precompresses the air before it is admitted to the cylinder, thereby increasing the amount of air and fuel available for combustion during each power stroke.

History and Applications

The diesel engine was first developed by the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, who tried to improve on the efficiency of the steam engine and of the gasoline engine, which was invented shortly before (see Diesel, Rudolf). The modern diesel engine is still very similar to the one described by Diesel in his initial 1892 patent and his 1893 description. The first diesel engine for commercial service was built in the United States and installed in St. Louis, Mo., by a brewing company in 1898. The design of the engine was based on an engine exhibited in Germany. Within a few years thousands of diesel engines were in service.

Diesel engines typically range in size from 10 to 1,500 horsepower. They are used widely in buses and trucks where fuel efficiency is important. They drive tractors, power shovels, air compressors, pumps, hoists and winches, air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment, and many other industrial machines. Slow-speed diesel engines are very reliable and are used for both electric power production and for marine applications. Until the development of nuclear power, all submarines were diesel-engine powered. Nearly all railroad locomotives now use a diesel-electric drive in which the engine is coupled to an electric generator that feeds electric power to motors that drive the wheels.

In recent years the agriculture of China has been revolutionized by replacing farm draft animals with locally built, 12-horsepower, single-cylinder diesel tractors on a wheelbarrow-like support.

Fred Landis

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